MLB 2012

Off Topic
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[quote]Maiden3.16 wrote:
Paul Konerko, Hall of Famer? Hit his 400th home run this year, but he’s only a five-time all-star (tough position for it however) and his highest MVP placing was 5th. Pretty damn consistent over the years though, and with 412 hr at 36 yrs old he has a decent shot at 500. Also he has no connections to PEDs that we know of, which like it or not, counts for a lot amongst Hall voters. I think he gets in eventually. [/quote]

I think to become a Hall of Famer you have to have reached a high peak and displayed longevity. Konerko has been consistently good for his whole career but has never had an amazing season. For that reason I don’t think he’ll get in.

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Panda stretch

http://thesco.re/O8BOHH

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I’m not sure what you guys prefe. A big Hall where many get in, something in the middle or as it is now where it’s ultra exclusive

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[quote]therajraj wrote:

[quote]Maiden3.16 wrote:
Paul Konerko, Hall of Famer? Hit his 400th home run this year, but he’s only a five-time all-star (tough position for it however) and his highest MVP placing was 5th. Pretty damn consistent over the years though, and with 412 hr at 36 yrs old he has a decent shot at 500. Also he has no connections to PEDs that we know of, which like it or not, counts for a lot amongst Hall voters. I think he gets in eventually. [/quote]

I think to become a Hall of Famer you have to have reached a high peak and displayed longevity. Konerko has been consistently good for his whole career but has never had an amazing season. For that reason I don’t think he’ll get in. [/quote]

I agree that he hasnt had that pinnacle great season, but thats where i believe him being “clean” will come into play for hall voters. Would he have been considered one of the great players had player x,y, and z never used and had incredible years?

I do prefer a hall that is exclusive and extremely tough to get in.

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[quote]Maiden3.16 wrote:

[quote]therajraj wrote:

[quote]Maiden3.16 wrote:
Paul Konerko, Hall of Famer? Hit his 400th home run this year, but he’s only a five-time all-star (tough position for it however) and his highest MVP placing was 5th. Pretty damn consistent over the years though, and with 412 hr at 36 yrs old he has a decent shot at 500. Also he has no connections to PEDs that we know of, which like it or not, counts for a lot amongst Hall voters. I think he gets in eventually. [/quote]

I think to become a Hall of Famer you have to have reached a high peak and displayed longevity. Konerko has been consistently good for his whole career but has never had an amazing season. For that reason I don’t think he’ll get in. [/quote]

I agree that he hasnt had that pinnacle great season, but thats where i believe him being “clean” will come into play for hall voters. Would he have been considered one of the great players had player x,y, and z never used and had incredible years?

I do prefer a hall that is exclusive and extremely tough to get in. [/quote]

A Hall that is very exclusive wouldn’t include Konerko. It wouldn’t include a lot of the players who are in it.

The thing with Konerko is that he’s done everything under the radar, partly because he’s never been the best in the game at his position in any one year and hasn’t been one of the top two or three players at his position over the course of his career. I think to make the Hall exclusive, and also to simplify the selection process, it’s most important to compare how a particular player stacks up against the rest of his generation and only the absolute cream of the crop get in. That excludes a lot of really good players like Konerko, but it also makes a clear distinction between really good players and truly great players.

His average season since he became a full-time player is somewhere around 24 home runs, 90 rbis and a .290 batting average. I don’t know, he might be close but I think he would need at least another couple years like this to get into the kind of Hall of Fame that you and I wish existed. I think the difference between Konerko and someone like Pujols, whose numbers aren’t THAT much better than Konerko’s but who is already a no-doubt Hall of Famer, is that Pujols had several truly special years compared to the rest of the league. Konerko has been steady, but he’s never just completely blown up for a stretch. It’s the ability to do that, to play above and beyond the rest of the league, that makes a player truly special. That’s why a guy like Koufax, to me, is arguably the greatest pitcher ever even though his career numbers don’t stack up well with a lot of other greats. I think that explains why Konerko has never been better than fifth or whatever in MVP voting.

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[quote]therajraj wrote:
Eric Byrnes on KNBR is suggesting that the Giants are going after Jose Bautista. HA![/quote]

Suggesting that they ARE or that they SHOULD? Eric Byrnes is a fucking cokehead anyways. I wouldn’t believe anything coming out of that guy’s mouth. He’s a fucking nut job. I have several friends who went to high school with him and they all say they’re shocked he never got suspended for drugs when he was playing.

What strikes me as really odd about the guy is that he does a show on the Giants’ station when he never fucking played for them. He played for Oakland, which doesn’t endear him to most Giants fans. He grew up in the Bay Area as a Giants fan, but still, show some fucking loyalty to the team that drafted you and that you broke into the big leagues with. It must kill A’s fans who liked him to see him on the other side of the Bay talking about the Giants all the time.

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He said they are from reports. I don’t obviously listen to KNBR. Some local Toronto beat writers were just laughing about it

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[quote]therajraj wrote:
He said they are from reports. I don’t obviously listen to KNBR. Some local Toronto beat writers were just laughing about it[/quote]

Oh. Well count me amongst those laughing about it too. There’s no fucking way the Blue Jays are going to trade Bautista now. They’re on the verge of actually contending in that division and they may even have been in contention now if their pitching staff wasn’t decimated by injury. Trading him now isn’t going to do anything but that set that organization back a few years. Besides, even if he were available, the Giants are the last team that could pull off a trade for him. What are they going to offer?

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It also looks like the Giants are becoming very vulnerable all of a sudden. Lincecum has looked better lately, but he clearly is incapable of sustaining any sort of success for more than a start or two. Sandoval looks like he’s headed to the DL after pulling his hamstring on a really good stretch play at first. Freddy Sanchez, who I never expected back anyways, is officially done for the year, the one lefty they have in the minors who might have been able to contribute this year or next in the rotation just went down with Tommy John, Hector Sanchez is still a week away and he’s going to be pressed into much more playing time than he’s used to when he comes back. Plus, he’ll probably have to play first base some, which he hasn’t done in the majors and only sparingly in the minors. And Belt, who couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat, is probably not going to be on the bench riding out his slump anymore. Beyond that, Posey, like all catchers, needs an occasional day off and on those days the Giants now put out a lineup that looks worse than anything they featured last year.

On top of all that, the Dodgers are coming to town, with Hanley Ramirez already looking like a totally different player now that he’s left the toxic environment in Miami that seems to follow Ozzie Guillen everywhere he goes.

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I hold off on saying Hanley is back just yet. He’s been terrible for 2 straight years

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[quote]therajraj wrote:
I hold off on saying Hanley is back just yet. He’s been terrible for 2 straight years[/quote]

Yeah, but he’s still really talented and with someone like that whose motivation has been questioned in the past, coming to a team in contention in a place like LA might be the jolt he needs to start producing like he’s capable of. I hope not, since he’s a Dodger, but he’s also on my fucking fantasy team and I’m locked in a death clinch in that league, so I kinda need him to do good but for the Dodgers to stink it up. I don’t see both of those things happening, unfortunately.

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Matt Harvey is going to be the next Roy Oswalt.

573

oh boy Angels just landed Greinke. With all the injuries in the AL East across the board, maybe both WC will come out of the AL West

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[quote]therajraj wrote:
oh boy Angels just landed Greinke. With all the injuries in the AL East across the board, maybe both WC will come out of the AL West[/quote]

Best rotation in the majors now?

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I’d still put the Phillies and Giants at the top.

In their division the A’s have the best staff this year.

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Nationals staff are probably having the best year

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Diamondbacks for the win.

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[quote]therajraj wrote:
I’d still put the Phillies and Giants at the top.

In their division the A’s have the best staff this year.[/quote]

I keep forgetting about the As. they are a sneaky little team. I think the angels with haren, cj, greinke, and ofcoarse this years al Cy young weaver have them beat though. gotta give the team w the leagues best pitcher the edge.

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[quote]therajraj wrote:
I hold off on saying Hanley is back just yet. He’s been terrible for 2 straight years[/quote]

I suspect SF fans can sense the writing on the wall and are already resigning themselves to wild-card race.

580

Apparently the Giants Acquired Hunter Pence, no word who they gave up.

I wonder if it’s Belt